Dog Tax in Bulgaria

    Hi all, just to check how many of you are paying the annual dog tax -@Adriana Petrova

I don't - my cats voted against dogs being permitted on their territory.....but I do feed a fox, does that count?

Hi yes we do its 10 lv per yr paid at our local council office rgds ozzy

Nope, didn’t even know it was a thing. there are so many exemptions I doubt many people do pay. The money is meant to deal with strays, yet I’ve seen only two dogs with tags in my municipality out of all the strays, so I don’t think they take it seriously, or if they do collect the tax they don’t spend it on them.

However I am neutering as many stray cats in my village as I can, out of my own pocket, and we took in a load of kittens and a dog last year, I think that more than makes up for it.

@HelenDinBG Are you a proper vet? You cant just go around neutering cats can you?

@Adriana Petrova

I don't live there, but I'm going tomorrow to look at a house. No one has ever mentioned a dog tax. Please tell me more.

    @HelenDinBG Are you a proper vet? You cant just go around neutering cats can you?
   

    -@mickeyhart

Mickey, I think Helen's more likely to be referring to trap/neuter/release, a method for helping manage feral cat numbers by catching stray cats and taking them to the vet to be neutered or spayed, then releasing them.  I doubt she gets out the knives and does surgery on her kitchen table, though nature's way of controlling populations through starvation and sickness is far crueller.

I think dog owners who don't pay the tax and have their dogs tagged need to be very sure their dog absolutely cannot ever get out unless they're on a leash. Some areas employ dog catchers who can be ruthless about destroying untagged dogs.

@grumpyoldbird

It's a fairly new dog registration scheme. The tax isn't huge, 10 leva a year per dog, which is paid at the local council office, and dogs are tagged. (Okay, not a huge tax for a single dog owner but with multiple dogs it would add up).

I grew up with a similar scheme in Australia in the 1960s.

I'm not sure if it applies to all of Bulgaria or is a regional thing. The current owners of the property will be able to tell you. Doesn't France have a similar scheme for registering dogs?

It feels quite important and possibly lifesaving for the dog to have them registered and tagged, unless there's zero chance they could escape and wander.

Didn't know there was any.whoops

@janemulberry

Hi Jane. In France dogs have to be registered on ICAD, which is pretty much like the UK companies who register microchips. The difference here is that it's a national database and it's a one-off fee for registration. It is compulsory, but its useful because if a dog is found wandering, you can take it to the nearest vet and they'll scan it and contact the owners.

I had no idea e about the tax!

were moving in under 2 weeks!

i know there will be multiple things that will show up and ill deal with.

    @HelenDinBG Are you a proper vet? You cant just go around neutering cats can you?
   

    -@mickeyhart

wow talk about taking things literally, as if anyone would do surgery at home 🙄

I’ve only got 4 dogs so I don’t object to 10 leva, even though it probably won’t be used as intended, rescues would find it a major burden. That said neutered animals are exempt according to a website i found. My main issue is I don’t believe it will offer the same benefits as ICAD, as in reuniting lost dogs or stopping people throwing unwanted animals out on the street. Animals are registered in Bulgaria by the vet when they are chipped/issued a passport, according to a lady who rescues and rehomes strays, I don’t know what purpose that database has.

@janemulberry hi there in bulgaria i thought you only paid for dog tax if they were not spade

@geoffreywebb21

I see Helen just said the same thing. Yes, it seems that is correct.

@grumpyoldbird

Hi, I see they have replied already, It is applicable to all Bulgarian municipalities.

This is interesting. I am more than sure a lot of pet owners in the villages( and not only in the villages) have not registered their pets. I an against microchipping since it can cause cancer. I never microchipped my GSD and he is almost 13 and looks/acts like 7 year old. I am all for paying money for registration so the strays are taken care of but I  will have to find a way not to microchip my dog(s) when I get some in Bulgaria. Is it mandatory?

    This is interesting. I am more than sure a lot of pet owners in the villages( and not only in the villages) have not registered their pets. I an against microchipping since it can cause cancer. I never microchipped my GSD and he is almost 13 and looks/acts like 7 year old. I am all for paying money for registration so the strays are taken care of but I  will have to find a way not to microchip my dog(s) when I get some in Bulgaria. Is it mandatory?
   

    -@TonyFF

The dog tax in Bulgaria became law in 2013 and is designed to encourage owners to neuter their dogs and thus helping control the stray dog population . The fees seem to vary from area to area, from as low as 5 lv and up to 20 lv for each dog and is payable by 31st March each year.

Have you tried Google? https://sites.google.com/view/streetdog … on/dog-tax

@TonyFF

The "chips cause cancer" stuff is VERY debatable at best and total b*llox at worst. 

As the World Small Animal Veterinary Association reported: "In the UK where there has been an informal reporting system for adverse reactions for over ten years only two of the 3.7 million implanted animals recorded on the Petlog database have been reported as developing a tumour at the site of implantation. In one of these cases, the pathologist reported that the transponder was incidental to the tumour formation. Overall, the Committee is aware of less than ten reports of tumours forming in companion animals associated with an implanted microchip." No studies have identified a definite link between chips and cancer; the most likely explanation for the tiny number of cancers reported at the sites of the chip insertions is that they're pure coincidence - and the benefits of pets being chipped vastly outweigh the minuscule risk, even if there is one..

JimJ

With my respect to your opinion I raise my dog with a holistic approach. In nature animals are nor microchipped. My dog lives as close to nature as he can.  I give  only healthy food to my dog, natural herbal treatment for tics, etc. ( no pesticides !). My dog has never been sick( he only got fox tail in his ears twice- that is all).  He is the best healthy German Shepherd! And no I will never microchip any future animals that I own.

@TonyFF

In Nature, dogs aren't domesticated and there are no vets either - so what does Nature have to do with the price of fish?

Within Bulgaria, it's mandatory for all un-neutered dogs to be chipped; you'll also need a chip and passport to bring a dog into the country.

not a new thing its been a requirement for many years.

Its a registration scheme where your dogs vaccine status is recorded also dogs that are neutered do not pay a fee.

A few years back our Mayor went to all the houses checking peoples documents for their dogs, later with her a vet visited the village and vaccinated all the dogs and issued their passports so that the animals can be registered at the local municipality, an action she did for all the people in the village who needed it

@TonyFF

JimJ is correct, if your dog is currently outside the EU and you wish to bring him in, he will require a chip to be permitted to enter the country.

While totally respecting your right to your own views, I suspect your dog's healthy diet is the reason he appears so much younger than his age, not the absence of a chip.

@janemulberry

FYI I do not plan to bring my old dog to Bulgaria( he stays in the USA ).

I plan to have at least 4-5  large dogs in Bulgaria.

I will find a way in Bulgaria not to microchip them.

The least of my worries. Thanks for reply.

@HelenDinBG Im thinking thats a job for the authorities. I mean are you allowed to go round neutering random cats?

@TonyFF Out here you get a proper look at what living close to nature really means. Youll be fine without the chip mate.

@TonyFF

So sorry he won't be going with you! You'll miss him I am sure. Though moving without any animals will make the logistics of the move far easier.

We have an older cat and will probably wait until he passes before moving, as I'm not sure he'd cope well the travel and such a big change. He might surprise us and manage it better than the younger cats who've already done one big trip (they're rescues flown from Cyprus to the UK). He's a tough old thing. But I don't want to put it to the test unless it's necessary.

If you get dogs in Bulgaria, my guess is that as long as they're not allowed to roam you won't be pressured to chip them.

    @TonyFF
So sorry he won't be going with you! You'll miss him I am sure. Though moving without any animals will make the logistics of the move far easier.

We have an older cat and will probably wait until he passes before moving, as I'm not sure he'd cope well the travel and such a big change. He might surprise us and manage it better than the younger cats who've already done one big trip (they're rescues flown from Cyprus to the UK). He's a tough old thing. But I don't want to put it to the test unless it's necessary.

If you get dogs in Bulgaria, my guess is that as long as they're not allowed to roam you won't be pressured to chip them.
   

    -@janemulberry

It'd be very unwise to let them roam: "accidents" are common with roaming dogs and cats. Besides which, I'd like to think that no responsible person would allow their un-neutered pets to wander; stray cats, and especially dogs, are a major problem here. I, and many others, already spend more than I can readily afford funding vet treatment for sick and injured animals, as well as neutering strays. It's also outrageous how several municipalities "dispose of" un-neutered stray dogs, by ferrying them to the nearest city at night and releasing them for others to take care of.

The number of stray dogs has reduced over the last ten years or so, due to the neutering and tagging programs that have been introduced (and the licensing we're discussing); that's very fortunate because attacks by packs of strays were very common and several people have been killed, including an internationally-renowned retired professor in Sofia. I also have my own scars from an encounter with a seemingly-docile stray I was trying to feed a few years ago.

@JimJ

I agree completely. No responsible pet owner should allow their animals to roam. My comment wasn't at all suggesting that doing so is okay.

Hello animal lovers!  Thanks for the heated responses.This conversation gave me an idea to put my gorgeous dog as my avatar:)

I am very responsible dog owner- so do not worry:)

Yes, i will miss my dog very much  but he is very comfortable and well taken care of in the US.. He will not be put thru the challenge of many hours of  traveling /and microrchipping.

@JimJ

see message

Just one point on microchips, they are not bad at all, I'm glad I always do it to my dogs, my dog who passed last year was our life, we was very sad to see her go, but she had the best 16 years with us and we enjoyed it with her too.

On a couple of occasions we would have a knock at the door, when opened our dog would wander over and say hello, sometimes she got carried away sniffing off down the street, and being caught up in the moment we didn't see her, on 3 occasions over that time she ended up miles away (we lived on the south downs nature area) only to be returned to us because of her chip.

She never had any issues with the chip and she lasted longer than most people thought she would.

Now I have a new dog just turned 1, she's chipped and thank god for that! I took her out for a walk a couple of days ago, she loves chasing birds and sniffing but I let her off the lead to run around a massive field, she vanished and I couldn't find her for 30 mins, fortunately she came back happy as Larry that she'd been on an adventure, I on the other hand wasn't impressed.

Should she get lost and found I'm sure she will be returned too.

I know you probably think I'm a bad owner now lol, but I'm human and mess up like all of us.

Microchip is a good thing, no different to other devices we use in our daily lives, you need to embrace them. I'd rather have a microchip than not see my dog ever again, she's one of my children.

Be a good parent and keep them safe.